CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- A fire ripped through South Africa's 138-year-old Parliament complex on Sunday, gutting offices and causing some ceilings to collapse at a site that has hosted some of the country's pivotal moments.
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As firefighters struggled to tame the blaze, a dark plume of smoke and flames rose high into the air above the southern city of Cape Town. No injuries have been reported and Parliament itself had been closed for the holidays.
Visiting the scene, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said a person was "being held and is being questioned" by police in connection with the blaze. Police later confirmed a 51-year-old man had been detained.
"This is a very sad day for democracy, for Parliament is the home of our democracy," Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Patricia de Lille told reporters as smoke billowed behind her from the roof of the historic white building with grand entrance columns.
Officials said the fire started in the Old Assembly building, which was built in 1884 and originally housed the South African Parliament but is now used for offices. It spread to the newer National Assembly building, built in the 1980s, which is where the Parliament now sits.
Authorities feared extensive damage to both buildings, which have stark white facades, elaborate roof linings and majestic columns, now all obscured by flames and smoke.
There were also fears that priceless artifacts inside, including a manuscript where the composer first wrote some lyrics for South Africa's national anthem, would be lost forever.
Cape Town's Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Jermaine Carelse warned that both buildings were at risk of collapsing.
"The bitumen on the roof is even melting, an indication of the intense heat. There have been reports of some walls showing cracks, which could indicate a collapse," the News24 website quoted Carelse as saying.
J.P. Smith, the Cape Town official in charge of safety and security, said at least one floor of the Old Assembly building was "gutted" and its entire roof had collapsed. The firefighters focused efforts toward saving the National Assembly building, he said.
Security guards first reported the fire about 6 a.m. Sunday, Carelse said, and the 35 firefighters initially on the scene quickly called for reinforcements. Cape Town activated its Disaster Coordinating Team, which reacts to major emergencies.
Police cordoned off the complex and closed nearby roads.
De Lille said an investigation was underway into the cause of the blaze. Authorities were reviewing video camera footage and questioning the man arrested at the precinct.
Parliament Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula cautioned against speculation that it was a deliberate attack on South Africa's seat of democracy.
"Until such a time that a report has been furnished that there was arson, we have to be careful not to make suggestions that there was an attack," she said.
South Africans viewed the fire as a double blow on the first two days of the new year, after saying farewell to retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu and then seeing their Parliament burn.
"It's just really a terrible setback," Ramaphosa said. "The Arch [Tutu] would've been devastated as well. This is a place he supported and prayed for."
Gallery: Parliament fire in South Africa
